Regional focus
Considering the situation many indigenous Australians find themselves in – often living in isolated villages and earning half as much as their non-native fellows – such schemes could really make a difference to their standard of living. That’s doubly true given how reliant many Aboriginal people are on mining. According to a recent census report, indigenous Australians account for 3.8% of the mining workforce, well above the average for other industries.
Aboriginal people’s land has been exploited by the mining industry for hundreds of years, disrupting the lives of many communities.
fundamental reform of the AHA, Mark Gowan, the state’s premier, declared it would be replaced by “the most progressive cultural heritage legislation in the country”. Stephen Dawson, WA’s Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, agreed, describing the new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill (ACHB) as giving indigenous Australians “the right” to protect their most precious sites. And to be fair, the bill does offer some concrete changes. Among other things, WA’s traditional owners can apply to turn a site into a ‘protected area’, while coercion and intimidation on the part of mining concerns are now banned explicitly.
“Aboriginal people should have the right to prevent the destruction of, or interference with, heritage of importance to them in any event.”
James Fitzgerald £75m BBC 14
The estimated value of the eight million tonnes of high-grade iron ore that Juukan Gorge was destroyed in order to access.
All this sounds great in theory. But insiders are less convinced. Significantly, Fitzgerald notes that, like its 1972 precursor, the ACHB still leaves much power in the hands of politicians – without giving Aboriginal people the right to appeal decisions that don’t go their way. Buckley agrees. “There’s no chance,” he says, “of any meaningful regulatory reform.” Nor is Western Australia unique. In 2019, for instance, the Queensland government quietly removed ‘native title’ over 1,385ha of land, ensuring a controversial Adani Group coal mine could go ahead. On a national scale, meanwhile, existing legislation only gives traditional owners a six-month window to negotiate with mining firms before being sidelined. And what of mining companies themselves? Like their counterparts in government, they are making the right noises. To give one example, Rio Tinto in 2021 established a new ‘communities and social performance’ model to measure relations with indigenous people. That’s shadowed by a $50m investment to attract and retain Aboriginal staff.
All the same, Fitzgerald warns that these economic arguments should never be allowed to whitewash unpopular plans. “Aboriginal people should have the right to prevent the destruction of, or interference with, heritage of importance to them in any event.” A case in point is Adani’s coal mine in Queensland, a mammoth facility that could extract as much as 10 million tonnes of the black stuff each year. Together with new railway links, the project could be a boon for the regional economy. The Indian giant, for its part, has also set an indigenous employment target of at least 7.5%. Yet, like with his scepticism towards Australia’s politicians, Buckley gives these claims short shrift. “In the absence of any facts, a press release does not constitute fact,” he says, suggesting that local Wangan and Jagalingou people have generally only been offered menial jobs as bus drivers or cleaners.
Investing in tomorrow? With the range of economic and political forces arrayed against them, what hope do Australia’s Aboriginal peoples have to redress the balance? Buckley, for his part, is pessimistic. “Australia has spent the last 250-odd years making sure our traditional owners have been virtually exterminated,” he says. “We don’t have any national respect for them – and anything that is given is pure lip service.” Considering the long and often destructive story of Australian mining, that does seem like a reasonable position. Nor do cynics have to delve into the history books to make their point. Despite ferocious opposition, after all, Adani’s Queensland coal mine finally began operations in late 2021. Fitzgerald, though, is slightly more optimistic. In particular, he wonders whether investors could ultimately help prod the industry towards change. To explain what he means, Fitzgerald offers the case study of the so-called Dhawura Ngilan collaboration, whereby investors and Aboriginal communities have teamed up to hold mining operators to account. That’s echoed by other examples of financiers taking a stand, notably when Pacific Investment Management lately refused to take part in an Adani port development. At the same time, Fitzgerald suggests that as ESG continues to grow in importance, mining companies may themselves be obliged to change course, especially as competition for new greenfield sites increases. Not, of course, that any of that can bring back the treasures lost at Juukan Gorge. ●
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
LittlePanda29/
Shutterstock.com
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